Liability for Products

English Law, French Law, and European Harmonisation

Simon Whittaker

As the EU internal market reaches a critical juncture the issue of harmonization is increasingly important

Comparative study of English and French law and their interaction with the EU

Cuts across the traditional boundaries of private, public, and criminal law

Liability for Products

English Law, French Law, and European Harmonisation

Simon Whittaker

Description

The EU is active in attempting to harmonize the law of product liability and the sale of goods to consumers, with the aim of promoting fair competition, aiding the internal market, and protecting consumers. But how do the resulting laws relate to existing national laws of liability and compensation? This comparative work considers the French and English laws governing all those who may be liable for products: their producers, their suppliers, their users, and their regulators. It is a revealing case study in the harmonization of laws in Europe, in an area which cuts across the traditional boundaries of private law, public law, and criminal law.

Liability for Products

English Law, French Law, and European Harmonisation

Simon Whittaker

Table of Contents

PrefaceIntroductionPART 1 Liability in Respect of the Manufacture, Supply, or Use of Products Preliminary1. Introduction to Private and Public Liability in France2. French Private Law: Delictual Liability for Products and Liability for Things3. French Private Law: the Contract of Sale4. French Private Law Relating to Other Examples of Liability for Products or for Things5. Liability for Products in French Administrative Law6. Public Services and Liability for Products in French Law7. Introduction to Liability in English Law8. The Tort of Negligence and its Satellites9. Liability Under the Law of Sale of Goods10. Public Services and Liability for Products in English LawPART 2Administrative Liability for Failure to Regulate or Control Product Safety 11. French Law12. English LawPART 3 Criminal Liability for Product Safety and its Relationship to Compensation 13. Fraudes, Homicides, and the Changing Role of the Partie Civile14. Product Crimes, Murder and Manslaughter, and the Restricted Role of Compensation in the English Criminal ProcessPART 4 Special Compensation Systems Affecting Compensation for Products 15. Work, Traffic, Blood, and Crime: 'Special Victims' in French and English LawPART 5 Patterns of Liability under the National Laws 16. Patterns of Liability under the National LawsPART 6 The European Directives on Product Liability and Consumer Guarantees and their Interaction withthe National Laws 17. The EEC Directive on Liability for Defective Products18. The EC Directive on Consumer Guarantees19. General Conclusion

Liability for Products

English Law, French Law, and European Harmonisation

Simon Whittaker

Author Information

Simon Whittaker is Fellow and Tutor in Law at St. John's College, and Reader in European Comparative Law at the University of Oxford.